This month’s Legislative Update outlines progress made in a bill (SB 83) to allow Colorado PAs to move from supervision to collaboration agreements with physicians. More news on nurse practitioner (NP) and PA legislation in California, New York, Oregon, Missouri, and Virginia are covered.
Colorado PA Bill (SB 83) Cleared by Senate Committee
The Colorado Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted to advance a bill (SB 83) to modernize Colorado’s PA Practice Act by a vote of 6 to 3 on March 2, 2023. The bill would remove the requirement for PAs to be supervised by a physician and replace it with a requirement to have an ongoing collaborative agreement with a physician or employer. The bill has been referred to the full Colorado Senate, but a date has not been set for a Senate vote.
“PAs are part of the solution to improving access to care for every patient, whether they live in urban Denver or in rural Gunnison,” Jennifer M. Orozco, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, said in her testimony before the committee. “The COVID pandemic starkly demonstrated the need to have an efficient and modern set of laws and regulations that allow qualified healthcare providers to respond to patient needs and meet them where they are. Modernizing Colorado’s practice laws will also incent the PAs trained at your 4 Colorado PA programs to remain here and serve the patients within those communities.”
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Susanna Storeng, DMSc, MPAS, CPAAPA, DFAAPA, PA-C, spoke about how the state’s current practice laws are driving PAs out of the state, sharing her experience losing her ability to care for her patients in a rural area of Colorado after her supervising physician changed.
“As a rural health constituent and a rural health advocate, I have worked in rural health for 20 years,” Dr Storeng said. “I have worked in Colorado rural health for 10 years. I am leaving the state of Colorado in one month because, as a single-income family, I cannot risk my children’s welfare by not being able to have a job. I cannot risk that for my family. And I will be moving to a state that does not have the same PA Act that Colorado has.”
The AAPA encouraged all PAs in Colorado to help the Colorado Academy of PAs by emailing legislators and asking for their support for SB 83.
More NP and PA Legislative News
- In California, legislators introduced SB 385, a bill that would extend abortion procedure training to PAs; the recently enacted SB 1375 allows trained and experienced NPs to provide abortion care without physician supervision.
- The New York State Society of PAs (NYSSPA) urged state legislators to support the inclusion of PAs in the final state budget. Permanently removing administrative barriers that limit the ability of PAs to care for patients and communities does not change the scope of PA practice, NYSSPA stated. Currently, PAs are allowed to provide medical services appropriate to their education, training, and experience without administrative barriers from a supervision physician under Executive Order 4, which was initiated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and extended through March 23, 2023, by Governor Kathy Hochul.
- Oregon legislators introduced HB 3412 that would add PAs to the list of medical professionals permitted to treat injured employees in workers’ compensation cases.
- Missouri legislators introduced House Bill 271 and Senate Bill 79 that would allow NPs to practice without a collaborating physician.
- The Virginia Academy of PAs submitted HB 1764 that will remove the ratio limitation for PAs. Currently, physicians may only collaborate and consult with no more than 6 PAs at any given time. The bill will also remove the need for a practice agreement in facilities that have a credentialing and privileging mechanism in place, including hospitals, state facilities run by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health, and Federally Qualified Health Clinics.
Sources
Colorado Academy of PAs one step closer to move from supervision to collaboration. News release. March 3, 2023. American Academy of PAs. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2023/03/colorado-academy-of-pas-one-step-closer-to-move-from-supervision-to-collaboration/
New York State Society of Physician Assistants Urges State Legislature to Address Healthcare Access and Equity. News release March 1, 2023. New York State Society of Physician Assistants. https://www.nysspa.org/news/633387/NYSSPA-Urges-State-Legislature-to-Address-Healthcare-Access-and-Equity.htm
Evans J. Advanced nurse practitioners push for bills to pass in order to serve in medical deserts. February 25, 2023. KOMU. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://www.komu.com/news/midmissourinews/advanced-nurse-practitioners-push-for-bills-to-pass-in-order-to-serve-in-medical-deserts/article_537c6f4a-b568-11ed-9c38-4fb1a9147043.html
New legislation from VAPA. News release. February 20, 2023. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://vampas.org/news/f/new-legislation-from-vapa
